Aarushi murder: Vijay Mandal in CBI custody for four days

Ghaziabad, July 15 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was Tuesday granted custody of Vijay Mandal, the third accused in the killings of Noida teenager Aarushi Talwar and her family’s domestic help, for four days. CBI counsel R.K. Saini had sought 10 days remand of Mandal from a Ghaziabad court.

The case continues to hog the headlines and choke the airwaves two months after the sensational double murders in the upscale Jal Vayu Vihar neighbourhood in suburban Noida.

Saini, in his application, said Mandal’s custody was required for the recovery of weapons used in the crime; recovery of clothes worn by the accused during the murder; and conducting scientific tests.

Defense counsel Sanjay Tyagi said the accused had been in the illegal custody of the CBI and the agency had failed to recover anything from him that may help in the investigations.

Aarushi was found murdered in her parents’ upscale Jalvayu Vihar apartment in Noida May 16. The Noida police immediately named Hemraj as the prime suspect but retracted the next day when his body was found on the roof of the apartment.

The police arrested Aarushi’s father Rajesh Talwar May 23, saying he killed his daughter in a fit of rage because he objected to her closeness with domestic help Hemraj. Talwar was released July 11 after 50 days of imprisonment, with the CBI saying there was no evidence to link him to the crime.

The CBI took over the case June 1 after a public hue and cry over the shoddy manner in which the Noida police had conducted the investigations.